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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: last · cold · march · tear · bowl · trunk · bear · bark

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. bear — the animal
  3. last — finally
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. march — the month
  6. bear — the animal
  7. cold — not warm
  8. last — final
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. march — music
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. march — the month
  17. tear — to rip
  18. last — to go on
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. bark — to shout
  24. cold — the Cold War

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com